Los Angeles (AFP)

"Avengers: Endgame", the last episode of the saga Marvel started in 2008, has just climbed to the top of the box office worldwide of all time, beating the record previously held by "Avatar", with 2.790 billion dollars harvested since its global launch on April 24, according to Disney.

Here is the new record of the ten greatest successes in the cinemas of the planet, in volume of recipes and not in number of spectators, as it is the case in France for example. Five of them are from the world of Marvel superheroes.

1. "Avengers: Endgame" (2019): $ 2.790 billion

directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

2. "Avatar" (2009): $ 2.788 billion

directed by James Cameron

3. "Titanic" (1997): $ 2.187 billion

directed by James Cameron

4. "Star Wars: The Awakening of the Force" (2015): $ 2.068 billion

directed by JJ Abrams

5. "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018): 2.048 billion dollars

directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

6. "Jurassic World" (2015): $ 1.672 billion

directed by Colin Trevorrow

7. "The Avengers" (2012): $ 1.519 billion

directed by Joss Whedon

8. "Fast & Furious 7" (2015): $ 1.516 billion

directed by James Wan

9. "Avengers: the era of Ultron" (2015): $ 1.405 billion

directed by Joss Whedon

10. "Black Panther" (2018): $ 1.346 billion

directed by Ryan Coogler

Some scholars point out that this ranking, based solely on the revenues of theaters, does not necessarily accurately reflect the popularity of a film because inflation mechanically inflates the success of new productions.

As an example, the specialized Box Office Mojo site estimates that the average price of the cinema has increased by about 20% in the United States since 2009, the date set by "Avatar", from 7.50 at $ 9.01 currently.

"Avatar" had collected $ 760 million in the US market at the time: today the sum would exceed $ 900 million.

In other words, with the figures corrected for inflation, the record to beat by "Avengers: Endgame" would not be 2.78 billion but at least 3 billion.

This method of calculation is very imprecise, especially for older films, but most experts agree that it's "Gone With The Wind", released in 1940 with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, who remains at the top of the list of the biggest hits of the cinema of all time if one takes into account the inflation.

Then come "Titanic" and "Avatar" elbow to neck, then "Star Wars", first opus of the saga Star Wars released in 1977.

© 2019 AFP